Friday, May 28, 2010

One Shot, One Kill: The Widowmaker Marksmen

The Widowmaker Marksmen

Overview
Just like his less experienced brothers (and sisters) the Widowmaker
Marksmen is a sharpshooter with high RAT, however he brings a POW 12
weapon to the party that will keep solos and UA's on their toes. I
think he a ton of applications that don't immediately jump out, most of
them become more apparent as you team him up with other parts of your
army (more on this later!).

Stats, abilities
The biggest thing that stands out on the marksmen is his exceptional
RAT. It's one point higher than our already accurate Widowmakers. He
will hit most things and can stay on the move while doing it. Even high
defensive models will sweat it out when he stands still for an aiming
bonus. He also brings 5 damage boxes to the table, which can be nice is
AOE's are heading his way. Also of note his his speed. When paired with
Swift Hunter he can be quite mobile.

Speaking of Swift Hunter, as long as other Widowmakers will gain this
ability when in his control area. This effectively makes their threat
range 16" as they can shoot and back up (if they kill something of
course). One big benefit of the marksmen is his stealth ability. With
his extremely long range weapon he can remain fairly safe as long as
AOEs aren't thrown his way. Even then the change of rolling a 1 on the
scatter is low and if they are throwing AOE's at him, then something
else in your army isn't taking the hit. Seeing as Khador has many more
immediate threats in their army this problem usually doesn't come up
much.

Finally I will touch on sniper very quickly. He has the ability to
choose where he puts his damage on warjacks and warbeasts, or can
simply deal 1 point of damage (which he can also chose where it goes).
At first this doesn't seem like much, but he can reliably damage light
jacks, especially arc nodes (I'm looking at you Cryx) and when teamed
with Widowmakers they have a great shot at knocking out crucial boxes.

Just like Widowmakers he also comes with Advance Deploy. I typically
use this to simply place him last rather than in front of my army. This
makes sure hes in the right place to take out his targets.

Synergies
Widowmakers - This is a fairly obvious choice as he grants them Swift
Hunter when in his command range. As well as giving them swift hunter
it can be another auto damage point to jacks or solos that require that
magical 5 damage to bring down.

Destroyer/Fieldgun/Mortar/Decimator
Matching him up with any of the above is awesome and is almost always
in any army I built. When you hit a heavy jack with one of the above
you are usually a few boxes away from taking out systems. The
widowmaker with his PS 12 gun on average can do a few points of damage
to a heavy, and a moderate amount to a light. This will often be enough
to cripple systems. A great boon and something the enemy usually won't
see coming. I personal field a "detachment" of a `Jack Marshaled
Destroyer with widowmakers + marksmen backing them up. I run them on
the opposite side of the field and chew away at flanking
units/jacks/solos. The Destroyer with power booster and `Jack Marshal
can fire a boosted to hit and damage shell every round followed by the
hail of 1 point damage can really cause headaches to an opponents
jacks.

eIrusk
He is actually a great solo to throw Fire for Effect on. His ability to
choose where he damages can mean some pretty crippling shots on
warjacks. Solos will also run for the hills. He can also hide with
other infantry and shoot through them taking out key solos, just be
wary of AOE's getting throw their way, or arc lightning.

pButcher
Similar to eIrusk but for one round he can help lay on some crucial damage during the feat turn.

pVlad
Everyone benefits from Signs and Portents, the widowmaker marksmen is no exception, especially with the sniper ability.

pIrusk
Inhospitable Ground is awesome and greatly increases his survivability
as enemies trying to run to engage him will find themselves short
staring down the barrel of his gun.

Lady Aiyanna and Master Holt
These guys greatly increase the hitting power of the Marksmen. If they
can Harm a unit hes targeting its almost like having boosted damage
rolls against them. Very handy especially with the Destroyer/Widowmaker
combo I mentioned earlier.

~ I love the marksmen. Where as the Manhunter can be sort of a one time
missile, the Widowmaker Marksmen can keep laying on the pain in crucial
areas from the safety of 14 inches away. I almost use him with any
caster I play as I can always find a use for him. Lately I've even been
taking him over the Manhunter and it's been working out very well. I
hope this helps anyone thinking about using him! Feel free to add your
own thoughts and ideas!